Scimitar
The Scimitar was a massive, heavily-armed Reman warbird. It was constructed under the command of Shinzon as part of a secret plot to overthrow the Romulan Senate, defeat the United Federation of Planets, and liberate the subjugated natives of Remus. History Built at a secret base, the Scimitar was the keystone of Shinzon's plot to assassinate the Romulan Senate and assume the role of Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire, something he could not have achieved without the support of the Romulan military. The Scimitar helped prove Shinzon's ambitions of attacking the Federation and ending the period of peace that had frustrated some Romulan generals. The Scimitar inflicted severe damage on the and Romulan reinforcements during the Battle in the Bassen Rift. When Picard of the Enterprise made a successful attempt to collide his vessel with the Scimitar, the Reman warbird was crippled. As Shinzon made a last ditch effort to inflict even more damage, a powerfully destructive thalaron generator aboard the ship was powered up, though Picard boarded the vessel in a failed attempt to disable the weapon. Lieutenant Commander Data of the Enterprise managed to board the Scimitar, where he transported Picard off the ship. Data fired his hand phaser into the thalaron intermix chamber, only two seconds before the weapon would have fired. This caused a chain reaction which destroyed the ship, and Data along with it. ( ) File:Scimitar Fore.jpg|Fore view File:Scimitar Aft.jpg|Aft view File:Scimitar Thrusters.jpg|Reverse thrusters File:Scimitar explodes.jpg|The Scimitar s end Technical data Cloaking technology The Scimitar s cloaking technology was, in the words of Geordi La Forge, "perfect." It emitted no tachyons and left no residual anti-protons, the two ways that a cloaked ship could be tracked and located. Thus, when cloaked, the Scimitar was virtually impossible to find. Only a chance hit by an opposing ship's weapons or by targeting where the Scimitar s shots came from could reveal its location, temporarily disrupting the cloak. The Scimitar could even deploy its weapons and deflector shields and travel at high warp speeds while cloaked, actions which, with less-advanced cloaking technology, necessitated de-cloaking or reduced the effectiveness of cloaking. Its maximum warp factor when cloaked was more than that of Starfleet's starship. Weaponry and military equipment Having been designed for war, the Scimitar had 52 disruptor banks and 27 photon torpedo bays; it was thus ready for nearly any battle, carrying roughly five times the armament of any other single ship. The powerful thalaron radiation weapon with which it was also equipped was capable of stripping the life off a planet in a matter of seconds, though it took seven minutes to prepare. The Scimitar also held a large complement of attack fighters. Shielding technology The Scimitar had primary and secondary shields. This allowed for twice the protection, giving it a backup shield. Even against the and two Romulan warbirds, the Scimitar still had the obvious advantage. Interior design Bridge The bridge of the Scimitar was radically different in design from any other vessel, though it did share the same basic layout as most Romulan starships. In the center of the room was located the chair of the vessel's commanding officer. Behind his chair, both to the left and right, were consoles that required the operator to stand up. Directly in front of the captain's chair were two more stations. The command chair itself contained a built-in replicator, for the commanding officer's needs. Directly behind the captain's chair was a flight of stairs that led to a higher level. Here, two more consoles were located, and access was provided to the thalaron weapon room through a pair of doors. ( ) File:Scimitar bridge.jpg|''Scimitar'' bridge File:Scimitar Viewscreen.jpg|Bridge viewscreen Shuttlebay The shuttlebay of the Scimitar was a large area over two decks. It featured several ''Scorpion'' class attack fighters. The shuttlebay was completely destroyed when the saucer section of the Enterprise-E was crashed into the Scimitar. ( ) s shuttlebay was partly represented with a set on Paramount Stage 16 (which also housed the ship's corridors). However, the shuttlebay set encompassed a green screen, which made the room look more expansive. (Information from call sheets)}} File:Scimitar shuttlebay 1.jpg|The shuttlebay of the Scimitar File:Scimitar shuttlebay 2.jpg|The destroyed shuttlebay Personnel Appendices Background information After an initial description of the Scimitar as "magnificent," the shooting script for introduced the craft with the following description; "Our first sight of this incredible ship is absolutely breathtaking. Shinzon's vessel combines the clean lines of the traditional Romulan Warbird with unique weaponry and styling. It is huge, easily twice as large as the ''Enterprise. And it is aggressive. Awesome in its power." The ''Scimitar was designed by FX artist John Eaves. Its computer voice was provided by Nemesis Director Stuart Baird. Originally, Eaves was inspired by science fiction conceptual artist John Berkey. With a very, classic battleship type design, as the work progressed, the ship took on a more organic and insect appearance with projecting appendages. Finally with some additional design cues, the ship went on to resemble a Lionfish. The name Scimitar itself is actually derived from an ancient Middle Eastern curved sword, used as far back as the mid-16th century. This type of sword was referred to in the final draft script of , likening Simon Van Gelder's right hand slashing at a crewman, thereby rendering him unconscious, to a scimitar. The name was originally to have been used for the in . (The Star Trek Compendium) Apocrypha In Star Trek: Countdown, the Remans were shown to have constructed smaller ships based on the design of the Scimitar. Three of these ships were used to capture the Narada, but were easily disabled by the Enterprise-E. Scimitar-class ships appear in Star Trek Online, classified as dreadnoughts and used by the Romulans as well as the Remans. Two sub-variants, the Falchion and Tulwar, also exist, and can be used by Romulan Republic player characters at the rank of Vice Admiral or higher. Among the Scimitar-type ships appearing are the Leahval, the flagship of Empress Sela, and the Tulwar-variant Lleiset, the flagship of the Romulan Republic under the command of Tiaru Jarok, daughter of Alidar Jarok. External links * * * * cs:Scimitar de:Scimitar es:Scimitar fr:Scimitar ja:シミター pl:Scimitar Category:Romulan starships